Lee Morgan: The Sidewinder

I was jamming to the title track in Lee Morgan’s The Sidewinder and imagining snowboarding on Sidewinder at Whitetail. The soul-jazz vibe was so damn addictive. With Morgan on trumpet, Joe Henderson on saxophone, Barry Harris on piano, Bob Cranshaw on bass, and Billy Higgins on drums, each musician had a chance to improvise and each played his heart out. The rest of the album, “Totem Pole,” “Gary’s Notebook,” “Boy, What a Night,” and “Hocus-Pocus,” were holding up as well. This is a classic album that stood the test of time. For some reason, I hadn’t paid much attention to Morgan, but that will change.